On This Day: December 22

Stephen, King of England

     On this day in 1135, Stephen of Blois became King of England. He was a nephew of Henry I, who died 21 days earlier. Henry named his daughter Matilda as his heir, but was in France, and Stephen seized the throne with the support of the nobility. Over the next two decades, Matilda would press her claim to the throne during a period of civil war known as The Anarchy. Eventually, it was agreed that Matilda's son Henry would be Stephen's heir upon his death, which occurred in 1154.

The Chelsea Pensioners taking part in the Opening Ceremony
for the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

     On this day in 1681, King Charles II issued a Royal Warrant that authorized the construction of The Royal Hospital, Chelsea. The hospital still serves as a retirement and nursing home for retired and injured British servicemen and women, who are popularly known as the Chelsea Pensioners.

James Stuart, the Old Pretender

     On this day in 1715, James Francis Edward Stuart - the only living son of the deposed Catholic king, James VII & II - arrived on British soil when he landed at Peterhead, Scotland to take the lead of the ongoing Jacobite Uprising. But the attempt to reclaim the throne from the recently-crowned German Protestant king, George I, failed and James eventually fled back to France.

Photo Credit: s*t*e*v*i*e via Flickr cc